Macy’s Parade Boasts Virginia’s Finest
December 4, 2008 • By Ashton Smith, The Breeze
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“Look what’s happening behind Shrek…,” NBC’s Matt Laurer announced during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“Scott Rikkers’ enormous band takes over Herald Square. It’s the Marching Royal Dukes from James Madison University located in Harrisonburg, Virginia,” Laurer said.
“Being away from family members on this holiday has got to be tough, but members of the band agree that their once-in-a-lifetime appearance here is worth the sacrifice,” Al Roker added.
“And to celebrate their university’s centennial year, Virginia’s Finest play ‘Sing, Sing, Sing,’” Meredith Viera said.
The band was one of the largest in the parade, with 483 members. They marched into Herald Square holding the James Madison University banner, performing for about 90 seconds on live television. But the band couldn’t all fit on camera, and about a hundred were left out of view.
“It was a great day for JMU to be recognized on television,” said Scott Rikkers, assistant director of bands and director of the Marching Royal Dukes. “The schedule we had we went from 2 in the morning on Wednesday until 2 in the afternoon on Thursday. Then we had to turn around and come back for a football game, and to me that was a true test of the dedication and the drive of this program. They were good to go until the very last minute of the game.”
The band marched and played continuously for 90 minutes alternating between two songs more than 50 times during the parade.
“When you have a street lined with millions of people, we were there to play, and they wanted to hear us play, so we did,” Rikkers said.
Rikkers said he didn’t get to see the performance until after he got home, but people continually walked up to congratulate him on how well the band did. But the biggest surprise for him was how many JMU students were cheering them on in New York.
“From the minute we stepped on until the end, there were groups of JMU people wearing their purple and gold and that was great,” he said. “It was nice to feel appreciated.”
But some of the band members said the marching really started to get to them. Senior Hunter Desper said playing in the drumline “killed” his wrists, while junior Alex Righter said playing the sousaphone left him with a knot on his shoulder about the size of a golf ball. Despite the injuries, the feedback members got from the performance made it worth it.
“My favorite part is the publicity we got out of it, lots of good P.R. for the university,” Desper said. “I know a lot of people came up to me, ‘Oh, you’re in the marching band, I just want to shake your hand. That’s so cool.’”
Senior John Seipp, who is part of the trumpet section, said people came up to him complementing the band on their preparation and how experienced they looked. But he said before the parade began, everyone was feeling the anticipation.
“I’ll remember that as soon as we got out there everyone was jumping up and down; everyone’s adrenaline was pumping,” he said. “We put so much work into preparation for what felt like less than 30 seconds. We got to Herald Square and it felt like it was over before it had even started.”
That adrenaline spread to the crowd, as the members talked about a glass apartment overlooking the street that had five or six people rating the different acts. When the band passed, they looked back and saw all 10s.
The Marching Royal Dukes even had a celebrity fan, when “30 Rock” actor Alec Baldwin, walked by and yelled “Go Dukes!”
Don Fisher, a parent of a band member, said the parade-goers really got excited for the Dukes even before they reached Herald Square.
“I’m sure they cheered for other bands too, but it caught me by surprise how enthusiastic they were,” Fisher said. “Clearly everyone in New York was MRD fans.”
Contact Ashton Smith at smith3ar@jmu.edu
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Absolutely wonderful to see our MRD at the Macy’s Day Parade. They were without a doubt very much a highlight! I was extremely proud to be a part of the Madison community. Wonderful!
Way to go DUKES!!!! I was so pleased to see and hear how well you represented JMU!!
Had my entire fam glued to the tv on Thanksgiving to watch the MRD’s. Job well done!!!!